Margaret Heckler

Margaret Heckler (21 June 1931-6 August 2018) was a member of the US House of Representatives (R-MA 10) from 3 January 1967 to 3 January 1983 (succeeding Joseph W. Martin Jr. and preceding Gerry Studds), as well as the US Secretary of Health and Human Services from 9 March 1983 to 13 December 1985 (succeeding Richard Schweiker and preceding Otis Bowen).

Biography
Margaret Mary O'Shaughnessy was born in Flushing, Queens, New York City in New York in 1931, and she worked as a lawyer in Massachusetts before serving as as Governor's councilor from 1963 to 1967 and as a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1964 and 1968. In 1966, she was elected to the US House of Representatives, and she was considered a member of the liberal Rockefeller Republicans. Heckler supported an Equal Rights Amendment and women's rights, but she was an active pro-life campaigner. In 1982, Heckler had to run against Democratic Party opponent Barney Frank when their two districts were merged following the 1980 census, and she lost to Frank. President Ronald Reagan appointed her his new Secretary of Health and Human Services, and she served from 1983 to 1985. She then served as ambassador to Ireland from 1986 to 1989, and she resigned in 1989 to pursue a private career. She died in 2018.